Graduate

The University of Washington Graduate School is responsible for determining the requirements for admission to graduate study. Within the limit imposed on overall enrollment in the Bothell campus, admission to a specific graduate program is limited to the number of students for whom faculty, staff, and facilities can provide graduate instruction and research guidance of high quality. Each graduate student must be admitted into a specific graduate program. The Graduate School does not permit general graduate enrollment.

Graduate Admission Procedure

Admission to the Graduate School is granted by the dean of the Graduate School. Application for admission is made to the Office of Graduate Admissions. The prospective student must hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university in this country or its equivalent from a foreign institution. Each applicant must submit a completed University of Washington application form and application fee. The applicant must arrange for the receipt of scores on the Graduate Record Examination, Graduate Management Admission Test, or an alternative test approved by the Graduate School Council, and official transcripts from all previously attended colleges, universities and institutes. Each department or other unit authorized to offer a graduate degree program maintains a Graduate Admissions Committee consisting of not fewer than three faculty members. The committee receives from the Office of Graduate Admissions all completed applications for admission to the unit. The Admissions Committee is responsible for the fair and complete evaluation of applicants and for recommending to the dean of the Graduate School the names of applicants who are considered to be qualified for admission.

Priority for admission of applicants into a graduate degree program is based upon the applicant's apparent ability, as determined by the University, to complete the program expeditiously with a high level of achievement and also upon the applicant's promise for success in his or her subsequent career. In addition, Graduate School admission policy requires that:

No practice may discriminate against an individual because of race, color, national origin, disability, sex, age, religious preference, creed, sexual orientation, marital status, or background, or status as disabled veteran or Vietnam era veteran.

And that:

Sustained efforts are made to recruit qualified students who are members of groups that have been subject to discrimination or are underrepresented in certain disciplines.

Graduate Admission Policy

In developing a pool of qualified applicants for admission to the Graduate School, the following factors may be taken into account by a degree-offering unit:

1. Undergraduate grades, especially for subjects in or closely related to the field of the applicant's proposed graduate work (at least a B, or 3.00 grade-point, average is expected).

2. The applicant's consistency in proceeding through an undergraduate degree program.

3. Scores on the Graduate Record Examination's verbal, quantitative, and analytical tests, the GRE advanced test or other tests related to the applicant's field, and on other aptitude tests that may be required.

4. Personal interviews of the applicant by the department admissions committee.

5. The career objectives of the applicant and the extent to which the graduate degree program may be expected to prepare him or her for those objectives.

6. Written and oral recommendations from persons who are qualified to evaluate the applicant's academic record and promise.

7. The applicant's degree objective. Weight given to these factors may vary among academic units. Admission to the Graduate School for enrollment at the Bothell campus signifies admission into a program of graduate study leading to a master's degree. Doctoral degrees are not offered at the University of Washington, Bothell.

Graduate Enrollment Limitation

Total graduate enrollment at the University of Washington, Bothell is determined by the University administration, as part of overall Bothell enrollment, in furtherance of University intent to maintain proportions of graduate students and other categories of students appropriate to the role of the University in its particular setting. First preference in enrollment is given to continuing graduate students (i.e., those who have already been admitted into a graduate program, who are in good standing, and who have maintained continuous enrollment as in-residence, in-absentia, or on-leave students). After continuing graduate students are accommodated, the remaining places are available for the enrollment of new students or the re-enrollment of former students who have not maintained continuous enrollment.

How to Apply

Application forms may be obtained from the UWB Office of Student Affairs. Other correspondence concerning admission procedures should be addressed to the Office of Graduate Admissions, Box 351280, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, or to the specific graduate program office at the University of Washington, Bothell.

Each applicant for admission to the Graduate School must submit the completed application form and a check to the University of Washington for the application fee of $50 and must arrange for the receipt of scores on the Graduate Record Examination (or an alternative test approved by the Graduate School Council) and of official transcripts (2 copies each) from all previously attended colleges, universities and institutes. An applicant may opt to submit an application electronically for a fee of $45, a savings of $5.00.

These required documents must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Admissions prior to the following dates: July 1 for Autumn Quarter, November 1 for Winter Quarter, February 1 for Spring Quarter, and May 15 for Summer Quarter (these dates are subject to change by the University). Early application is advised.

Please note that the Master of Business, Master of Nursing, and the Master of Arts in Policy Studies admit only once a year for Autumn Quarter.

Additional documentation (e.g., letters of recommendation) is required by some programs. See the appropriate section of this catalog and check with the Program Office for complete and current information. All records submitted as part of an admission application become a part of the official file and the property of the University of Washington and cannot be returned nor duplicated for any purpose. Failure to submit complete and accurate credentials may result in permanent dismissal from the University.

The foregoing dates and procedures apply to new students and visiting students as well as to former students of the University of Washington who have not attended since receiving their baccalaureate degrees. A former student must apply as a new student for admission to the Graduate School.

Under certain circumstances, University of Washington students, who are within 6 credits of completing their undergraduate work and who have met the requirements for admission to the Graduate School, may register the quarter immediately preceding admission to Graduate School for up to 6 credits in 500 level courses, in addition to the last six credits that are required of undergraduate work. This registration and these arrangements must be approved by the graduate program that the student is entering. However, students so enrolling are not reclassified as graduates until the baccalaureate degree has been granted and after their official admission to the Graduate School. At that point, it is necessary to petition the Graduate School to permit the six credits to apply toward the master's degree. Only under these circumstances may graduate work, taken as an undergraduate, be applied toward an advanced degree. Further registration for graduate work is contingent upon completion of the requirements for the bachelor's degree.

When all required documents have been received, an evaluation is made and the applicant is notified of his or her admission status. An offer of admission is valid only for the quarter indicated. Applicants, who wish to be considered for a different quarter, must file a new application and fee with the Office of Graduate Admissions. Admissions credentials of applicants, who do not register for the quarter to which they have been admitted, are normally retained for a period of one year from the quarter of application. At the end of this period credentials on file are discarded unless the applicant has notified the Office of Graduate Admissions of a continued interest in attending the University.

Special Categories for Graduate Admission

Visiting Graduate Students

A student who wishes to enroll in the Graduate School at the University of Washington, Bothell, and, who intends thereafter to return to the graduate school in which he or she is working toward an advanced degree, may be admitted as a visiting graduate student. This admission is contingent on available space and facilities. Such a student must have been officially admitted to another recognized graduate school and be in good standing and currently pursuing a graduate degree. Admission to the University of Washington, Bothell, as a visiting graduate student, does not guarantee admission to any particular course of study. A visiting graduate student is permitted to register only in those courses for which he or she is judged to be eligible by a faculty advisor or the instructor of the course, and if space is available to accommodate registration. Further details regarding application and other relevant policies may be obtained from the Office of Graduate Admissions at the Seattle campus of the University.

Graduate Non-matriculated

Graduate Non-matriculated (GNM) defines a student status at the University as designed to provide access to graduate courses for qualified post-baccalaureate individuals who are not at the present time seeking a graduate degree but who may later want to apply these credits toward a degree. All applicants must be evaluated by the graduate unit in which the student seeks this status, and be judged qualified to do graduate level work in the courses to which they seek entry.

Applicants to the GNM status must contact the academic unit directly for application information. ( Not all departments offer GNM status.) Departments will counsel students regarding the status and provide instructions, application forms, and department requirements to appropriate candidates.

GNM students are limited to a total of 12 credits in each program to which they have been accepted. Please note, however, that should the student later be admitted to a master's degree program, a maximum of 12 GNM credits or any combination of GNM and transfer credits may be applied toward the degree.